Thursday, October 27, 2016

What does it take to be successful in PR?After you’ve been in this business a while,
it’s a question you’ll be asked time and time again.There’s never one right answer, but there are
some traits and skills that will help you establish a successful career in the
field.Here are a few skills/traits that
I think make a difference:

Being intellectually curious and open to new
thoughts and ideas. If you’re genuinely interested in learning about
people, places and things, it will help you stay connected and knowledgeable
about a wide range of topics. It can really set the stage for your success in
the PR business.

Knowing what news is, and what
reporters want. It doesn’t matter if YOU think it’s interesting; the question
is will it be interesting to the reporter/media outlet and their
readers/viewers/listeners?Over time,
you can develop a pretty good instinct about this and that will help you shape
your messaging when pitching a story.

Being a good writer. Today, in most
cases for general PR, it means being a good story teller with a conversational
writing style.

Knowing how to network/build relationships.A key skill in PR is relationship building;
with your clients, other PR professionals, reporters and your social followers.
If you don’t like people; or if you’re an introvert, then PR is going to be
difficult for you.

Keeping up with technology. You
don’t have to be an expert about every new social platform or technology device
that comes along, but you should have a basic understanding about it and know
the advantages, disadvantages and where it fits in your overall communication
plans.

Of course, this list could go on and on.That’s why I’m counting on you to comment on
the skills, abilities and traits you think are important to building a
successful PR career.What do you think?

Monday, October 24, 2016

By: Steve Scaffidi, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

It could be age, or just a sign of the times, but watching
sports just doesn’t seem as relaxing a way to pass the time as it used to
be.Sitting down to watch a football
game or baseball game at this time of year, with the fall colors arriving,
cooler air and earlier sunsets, seemed like a great way to enjoy a Saturday or
Sunday afternoon.

Maybe it’s the impact of the presidential election at the
same time as football and the Major League Baseball playoffs, but it certainly
doesn’t seem like the mood is lighter or that folks are treating each other any
better.Or maybe the shorter days are
messing with everybody’s moods and nobody likes to see the warm, fun-filled
days of summer end, but is there something else going on?

Sports used to be about just watching the game. Oh sure,
some people would keep track of player stats for fun, or fill out the lineup
and score the game in their stadium program, but that’s pretty uncommon now.
It’s been replaced by fantasy sports, a multi-million dollar – if not billion
dollar – activity that’s all-consuming, and perhaps, is turning a fun thing
into something akin to work. Your fantasy team’s quarterback isn’t performing
up to snuff, well then maybe you think it’s OK to take a shot at him on social
media? Your favorite team is having a bad season, so you spend all of your time
rooting and following the stats of players – sometimes the rival of your own
home team – all in the interest of winning your fantasy match-up.

People have always been depressed after their favorite team
loses. That’s normal. But when you throw fantasy leagues and a financial
investment into the mix, well, then suddenly sports aren’t just a leisure
activity anymore, but something that requires paying attention beyond just
watching a game. Is that good? Well, you could make the argument that it has
certainly made the folks playing fantasy sports more aware of the sport they
follow, and probably fine-tuned their math skills as well! But are we losing
something in the mix? Are we taking sports too seriously?

Sports are both fun and in the case of the professional
sports, a business. Maybe the balance is just out of whack, for reasons related
to politics, or economics, or whatever. Maybe it’s just because my fantasy team
is under-performing.

Do you get stressed and worked up about fantasy football or
watching a game on TV?

Friday, October 7, 2016

There’s no doubt the news landscape has changed dramatically
in recent years. I grew up with a daily newspaper, ABC, CBS and NBC television
stations running local news at 6 and 10 p.m. and a few local radio stations
that also carried local news. That’s a far cry from today when news is with us
24/7 from a seemingly endless source of news outlets.

My first thought was that the four-in-ten figure for people
getting news online seems a bit low. As for mobile being the preferred device
for digital news or that Facebook and other social media platforms are common
news sources, that’s no surprise.

The surprise to me is that “long-form journalism has a place
in today’s mobile-centric society.” The Pew Research piece notes that
“cellphone users spend more time on average with long-form news articles than
with short form. In fact, the total engaged time with articles 1,000 words or
longer averages about twice that of the engaged time with short-form stories:
123 seconds compared to 57. And on average, long-form content attracts about
the same number of visitors as short-form content.”

I’m taking that as good news; people are still interested in
longer stories even it seems that most of us have shorter attention spans
today.

What do you think? Are you checking out longer-form stories
on your mobile device?